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President Aquino to meet different sectors this
week |
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President Benigno S. Aquino III will meet various sectors this week to work
with them find ways in speeding up national development, the Palace said
Monday.
In a statement, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the President has
always emphasized the role of local government units in the development of
the country that’s why he is meeting with them this week.
The President will administer the oath of office for the oathtaking of the
Leagues of Local Government Units and Elective Officials, and speak at the
general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP).
President Aquino will also lead the conferment ceremonies of the 16th
Philippine Quality Awards recognizing exemplary performance of entities in
the public and private sectors that have contributed to the competitiveness
and productivity of the country, Lacierda said.
The Palace official said the President will also attend the Original
Filipino Music Summit to meet different stakeholders in the industry and
push its development, he said. PND (as) |
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Palace spells out benefits of increased
rotational presence of US forces in PHL |
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Sealing an agreement for an increased rotational presence of American forces
in the Philippines will bring in wide-ranging benefits for the country, a
Palace official said.
The agreement, which will be buoyed on existing agreements with the US such
as the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty, will
certainly help the Philippines in terms of technology transfer and disaster
response, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing in
Malacanang on Monday.
“The reason why it helps is because there’s some technology transfer,
there’s knowledge sharing between the American forces and the Philippine
forces when they do conduct military exercises,” Lacierda told reporters.
“It improves the quality of the Philippines’s defense in terms of
preparedness. And let me also emphasize that a part of this rotational
presence is now focusing on disaster preparedness and disaster reduction,”
he added.
The Philippine government sees a big improvement when it comes to increased
rotational presence particularly when the American military sent its assets
to the Central Visayas in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.
The US sent ships, planes, helicopters and military vehicles to assist in
transporting relief goods, supplies and equipment in the affected Visayas
region.
A new agreement does not need ratification of the Philippine Senate because
an increased rotational presence pact with the US will be built on previous
agreements already ratified by the Senate.
“It is an agreement that builds upon... or to be implemented based on the
provisions of the Mutual Defense Treaty, as well as the Visiting Forces
Agreement. Both agreements have been ratified by the Senate,” Lacierda said.
“So in the view of the Executive branch, these are mainly provisions which
implement both treaties that have already been previously ratified by the
Senate.” PND (as) |
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Palace backs Immigration Bureau's offloading of
travelers; says it’s a move to curb human trafficking |
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The Palace defends the Bureau of Immigration’s move of offloading passengers
leaving abroad with dubious intentions saying the intetion is to protect the
public from human trafficking syndicates.
“The idea behind the guidelines here is not to prevent a traveler—somebody
who wants to travel with all the completed documents to be prevented from
traveling,” Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing
in Malacanang on Monday.
“These guidelines were meant to protect our citizen’s from human
trafficking, and also to let the criminal syndicates know that we know what
they do. This is primarily to protect our citizens from human trafficking,”
he added.
Human trafficking syndicates know how to exploit the system, he said, and
the government must act to counter those illegal acts. To bring people
outside the country, syndicates let undocumented Filipinos hide in plain
sight by acting as tourists.
“The guidelines were set up precisely to look into some benchmarks or some
points where an Immigration officer will be able to, at the very least,
detect tell-tale signs of human trafficking,” he noted.
The Bureau of Immigration clarified that Filipino travelers are not required
to prove financial capacity to travel as tourists or overseas workers, and
their right to travel remains enshrined in the Constitution.
Offloading individuals leaving overseas is not a policy, but a consequence
of the implementation of government guidelines, explained Immigration chief
Siegfred Mison.
People with complete travel documents, particularly those holding authentic
passports and other documents issued by a foreign country such as a tourist
or working visa, are allowed to leave, Mison said.
Offloading is not a power of the immigration bureau to bar anyone from
leaving the country and it is not an official government policy, according
to Mison.
Mison said the guidelines were established by the bureau and the
Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking and approved by the Department of
Justice. PND (as) |
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Coloma underscores truthful, complete information for
effective communication |
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(TAGAYTAY CITY) Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary
Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. on Monday emphasized the importance of a
complete, truthful and unified communications that would help the public in
making responsible decisions.
Secretary Coloma talked about the Aquino administration’s communication
directions during the 2014 Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
Communications Planning Workshop held here in Tagaytay City.
“Naniniwala ang Pangulo na ang mahalaga sa lahat ay bigyan ng tama at sapat
na impormasyon ang mga mamamayan,” the secretary told the participants of
the Labor communications planning workshop.
“Kapag natanggap na nila ito, sila na mismo ang magpapasya; sila na ang
magkukusang-loob na kumilos para baguhin ‘yung kanilang buhay, baguhin ang
buhay ng kanilang komunidad at magbagong-tatag ng isang mas matibay na bansa,”
he added.
Secretary Coloma said the government’s philosophy of an effective
communication is “truth-telling, awareness-creation, and
consciousness-raising.” He said the administration does not promote
propaganda and censorship.
The secretary also said that the government focuses on the Philippine
Development Plan 2011-2016, the administration’s development framework that
seeks to address poverty, as well as achieve inclusive and sustainable
socio-economic growth.
In communicating with the public, Coloma said that the government and its
agencies should communicate a unified message. He said the media should be
given timely and complete information, and they should be treated with
respect and encourage professionalism.
He also cited that President Aquino speaks in the Filipino language in his
speeches as he wants to reach all Filipinos not only the audience of the
event venue. “Naniniwala ang Pangulo, tuwing siya ay nagsasalita, ang
audience niya ay buong bansa,” he said.
The Department of Labor and Employment held a two-day communications
planning workshop in Tagaytay City, which was attended by employees from the
Labor Communications Office, as well as various regional offices and
attached agencies. PND (co) |
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